Several reasons that I can think of.
For one, as Intel loses market share, Dell's *overall* market share would tend to shrink. And, it's business model (did it have a *negative* operating cycle?) was being discovered by everybody.
Dell had also been trying to diversify its revenue base. TVs (convergence, anyone), gamers, e-commerce, all along the same line of thought. If Dell was not tied to PCs, Dell couldn't be tied to Intel.
AMD's star appears to be rising at the moment. Intel, OTOH, is suffering from a bout of executivitis. Major execs can't miss the ball so badly unless they are headed by folks named Ford. And Otellini, sadly, and obviously, ain't a Ford.
Thus, AMD had crossed a tipping point and had to be recognized. If you'd recall, Dell had already build relationship with AMD by selling those CPUs on the e-com site. At that time I had commented that this was as good a way to test a key potential supplier without any encumbrances.
Going out on a limb now :) I suspect this is the leading edge of a new wave of realignments in the industry (beyond ATI-AMD or Dell-AMD). May be these are the testing grounds, or it may be that the wave is already rolling. If the energy bulls have run their course, that money must find a new parking spot. So what? Well, it could continue to go to more software deals, or it could enter a new arena. Semis seems to be just as good a place given the changing market structure, players and technology. JIMHO - and, probably more wrong than right.
regards
-d |
